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The Plains Indians lived on the
Great Plains of North America. There were four
important tribes: Dakota, Cheyenne, Sioux, and
Comanche. On the Great Plains it was cold in the
winter and hot in the summer.
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The Plains Indians depended on
buffalo. They
used every part of the
buffalo and wasted
nothing. They made food, shelter and clothing out
of the buffalo parts. The Plains Indians used bows
and arrows to kill the buffalo. They also chased
them off cliffs. The buffalo moved from place to
place to find fresh grass.
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The Plains Indians had to follow
the buffalo so they needed a home that they could
move and a way to move them around. They attached a
travois to their horse and moved where the buffalo
moved. A travois is made by using two long poles,
hooked to your horse to carry your belongings. The
poles were dragged on the ground behind the horse.
Their homes were called tepees. By leaning two long
poles together and putting buffalo hides over the
poles women built the tepees. There was a hole left
in the top of the tepee so the smoke from the fire
inside could get out.
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Buffalo meat was used to make
sausage. They also kept some of the meat and dried
it on racks to eat when they couldn't find buffalo.
Today we call that jerky.
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The Plains Indians made their
clothing out of buffalo hides. It was decorated
with porcupine quills, beads and feathers. Boys
wore nothing until they were 10. Then they wore a
breech clout made of deer skin. In cold weather
they wore robes and boots made from buffalo hide.
Men pierced their ears and had longer hair than the
women. The women wore long sleeved
dresses.
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